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Jacob Rees-Mogg has handed in his letter of no confidence in the leadership of Theresa May saying what has been achieved is ‘not Brexit’

Rees-Mogg submitted it to Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 Committee, saying May’s Brexit deal ‘has turned out to be worse than anticipated and fails to meet the promises given to the nation by the prime minister’.

The prime minister’s spokesman said May will fight any vote of confidence against her and that she expects to still be prime minister when the UK leaves the European Union in March.

Jacob Rees-Mogg said what has been achieved in the deal is ‘not Brexit’ (Picture: AP)

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He said outside parliament this afternoon: ‘This is not Brexit. It is a failure of government policy. It needs to be rejected.’

Rees-Mogg told reporters he would not run for Conservative leader, but named Boris Johnson, Dominic Raab and David Davis as possible successorss

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He said ‘one of the problems was having a Remainer’ as leader.

He added: ‘What we need is a leader who will say to the EU “it is impossible to divide up the UK, it is impossible to agree to a situation where we have a perpetual customs union, it’s impossible to pay £39 billion of taxpayers money for a few promises which was meant to be £39 billion for an implementation of a deal, and it is impossible for us to allow the continuing jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice”.’

The prime minister’s spokesman says Theresa May would fight any vote of confidence (Picture: PA)

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Rees-Mogg said that he believed the necessary 48 letters to trigger a vote of no confidence in the prime minister would be submitted, but declined to put a timeframe on the process.

If May was rejected by MPs, a vote to choose her successor could be conducted in ‘not months but weeks’, he said.

Reporters struggled to hear Rees-Mogg over anti-Brexit protesters.

One demonstrator could be heard shouting: ‘The ERG [European Research Group] is finished and so are you Mr Rees-Mogg.’

Former minister Sir Edward Leigh said it was ‘very possibly’ there would be enough letters submitted to the 1922 Committee today, although he will not send one.

He said he’s not offering his name as leader (Picture: PA)

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He added that there was a ‘genuine difference of opinion’ on whether to challenge May’s leadership.

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Earlier today, Rees-Mogg highlighted areas of the deal where he said the ‘honourable’ prime minister had reneged on promises over leaving the customs union, maintaining the internal integrity of the UK and leaving the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice.

He told MPs: ‘As what my right honourable friend says and what my right honourable friend does no longer match, should I not write to my right honourable friend the member for Altrincham and Sale West?’

Jacob Rees-Mogg's full letter says:

A few weeks ago, in a conversation with the Chief Whip I expressed my concern that the Prime Minister, Mrs Theresa May, was losing the confidence of Conservative Members of Parliament and that it would be in the interest of the Party and the country if she were to stand aside.

I have wanted to avoid the disagreeable nature of a formal Vote of No Confidence with all the ill will that this risks engendering.

Regrettably, the draft Withdrawal Agreement presented to Parliament today has turned out to be worse than anticipated and fails to meet the promises given to the nation by the Prime Minister, either on her own account or on behalf of us all in the Conservative Party Manifesto.

That the Conservative and Unionist Party is proposing a Protocol which would create a different regulatory environment for an integral part of our country stands in contradistinction to our long-held principles.

It is in opposition to the Prime Minister’s clear statements that this was something that no Prime Minister would ever do and raises questions in relation to Scotland that are open to exploitation by the Scottish National Party.

The 2017 Election Manifesto said that the United Kingdom would leave the Customs Union.

It did not qualify this statement by saying that we could stay in it via a backstop while Annex 2, Article 3 explicitly says that we would have no authority to set our own tariffs.

Rees-Mogg has submitted a letter of no confidence in May (Picture: AP)

It is also harder to leave this backstop than it is to leave the EU, there is no provision equivalent to Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty.

The Prime Minister also promised an implementation period which was the reason for paying £39 billion.

As was made clear by a House of Lords report in March 2017 there is no legal obligation to pay anything. This has now become an extended period of negotiation which is a different matter.

The situation as regards the European Court of Justice appears to have wandered from the clear statement that we are taking back control of our laws. Article 174 makes this clear as does Article 89 in conjunction with Article 4.

It is of considerable importance that politicians stick to their commitments or do not make such commitments in the first place.

Regrettably, this is not the situation, therefore, in accordance with the relevant rules and procedures of the Conservative Party and the 1922 Committee this is a formal letter of No Confidence in the Leader of the Party, the Rt Hon Theresa May.

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This was a reference to Sir Graham Brady MP, the chairman of the Tory 1922 committee, to whom MPs must write to express no confidence in a leader in order to trigger a challenge.

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May replied that ‘some difficult choices have had to be made’ to avoid a hard border on Ireland, adding: ‘It is not only our intention, but we will be working to ensure that protocol does not have to be put into place.’

Anne Marie Morris also told BBC Newsnight on Wednesday she had written a formal letter for the prime minister to quit, before telling Sky News she had ‘submitted it to the 1922 committee’ today.

Morris, MP for Newton Abbot in Bevon, said on Wednesday: ‘At the moment what we are being offered is something that is not even close, it’s almost worse than Chequers.

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‘It’s absolutely crucial we have some leadership to take us in the right direction in what is going to be a very bumpy journey.’

‘In the same way that Churchill was great for war, and not for peace, this is not her time.’

‘For the sake of the country and the party, I’m afraid I believe we need somebody who could lead this Brexit action, because if we don’t get it right I don’t believe we’ll ever get another opportunity.’

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This comes after Rees-Mogg, wrote to Conservative MPs last night wrote a letter to the Conservative party calling on them not to support May’s plan, arguing the UK would ‘hand over £39 billion to the EU for little or nothing in return’.

Anne Marie Morris told BBC Newsnight she had written a formal letter to the committee for the prime minister to quit (Picture: Chris McAndrew / UK Parliament)

If the leaked information on the proposed Brexit deal is accurate, I cannot support it. A NI solution which divides the UK and a non-regression clause to ensure the UK cannot out compete the EU are completely unacceptable. The PM is not delivering the Brexit people voted for.

He said the deal is ‘unacceptable to unionists’, will ‘lock us into an EU customs union and EU laws’ and is ‘profoundly undemocratic’.

Morris said before viewing the Brexit withdrawal agreement: ‘If the leaked information on the proposed Brexit deal is accurate, I cannot support it.

‘A Northern Ireland solution which divides the UK and a non-regression clause to ensure the UK cannot out-compete the EU are completely unacceptable. The prime minister is not delivering the Brexit people voted for.’

The announcement comes after BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg said Brexit supporters will ‘likely’ call for a vote of no confidence in her as their leader following yesterday’s cabinet meeting.